Peterson portraying Jenny Lind today at Arts Center
Article Photos
JoAnn Peterson of Kingwood, a presenter with the West Virginia Humanities Council History Alive! program, will portray Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale, today at the Randolph County Community Arts Center.
The presentation, sponsored locally by the John Hart Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution and the Elkins Branch of AAUW, is open to the public, free of charge and will begin at 7 p.m.
Lind was a renowned dramatic opera star in Europe before touring the United States from 1850 to 1852 under the promotion of P.T. Barnum. When more than 30,000 people greeted her arrival in the United States, Lind became the first American celebrity, complete with product endorsements and a mania that swept the country. Stephen Foster owed much of his fame to Jenny Lind because she sang his songs during her American tour when he was virtually unknown.
Admired by Emily Dickinson and Harriet Beecher Stowe, she was the inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen's story, "The Ugly Duckling." She was also a close friend of Queen Victoria and Felix Mendelssohn, and was the first woman memorialized at Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner. Acclaimed as much for her faith and philanthropy as for her voice and acting ability, Lind brought respectability to women who performed on stage in a time when acting was considered an evil profession for women.
The West Virginia Humanities Council created the History Alive! program as a means of exploring history by interacting directly with noteworthy historical characters. Each History Alive! presenter has conducted scholarly research on their character. History Alive! presenters give a monologue in character and then take questions while remaining in character. Finally, the presenter breaks character and invites questions about his or her research.
Other History Alive! character programs sponsored by AAUW and DAR in recent years have been presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull, West Virginia Army nurse Col. Ruby G. Bradley and Shawnee Chief Cornstalk.
While Peterson is a seasoned actor and vocalist, the program is not a concert, but a first-person presentation. Peterson regularly performs at West Virginia Public Theatre, writes and directs murder mystery plays and provides entertainment for groups and organizations. She is the owner of Mountaineer Country Tours which arranges group tours to West Virginia.
As part of her visit to Elkins, Peterson, as Jenny Lind, will meet with social studies students at Elkins Middle School Friday morning.
